Leave luck to heaven
by GodOfWurstwasser
Summary: Well, it's like... just imagine... Er.. Don't know, read for yourself.
1. When you wish upon a star

Luigi was riding on the back of Yoshi, waiting on the hill before the castle of Bowser. Volcanoes erupting in the background were shrouded by the smoke that was now covering the sky as a whole. It was always dark here, but it was even darker now in the kingdom of the Koopas. Only Bowser's castle was like a star, as it's fire gave birth to flickering shadows. The Kingdom of these pathetic reptiles had fallen. Luigi smiled, as his fiery eyes narrowed. He had been burning them to pleasure himself a little bit, but it ceased to amuse him now. He pointed towards the castle and began the incantation, spoken in the tongue of the ancient... "_Fires of hell, death and decay, by the God's of the beginning, Star Road, fulfil my wish, become my sword and blast my enemies into oblivion!_"

The most terrifying thing in this very moment, was the silence, as the space where the once proud castle stood imploded... This silence, which only lasted a second, was so terrifying, because it itself seemed to eliminate all existence.

As the existence that once was Bowser's castle was fused into a singularity, warped out of existence once and for all, the vast amount of energy released exploded. The shock wave caused destruction in all of the kingdoms, and were it not for the shield Luigi had created, he would have been evaporated, like every kind of matter in the epicentre of the explosion. Not only did he banish the castle into non-existence, around it, almost a hundred miles wide, remained a crater. A scar on the earth, reminding the world of what disobedience meant to a God.

A shooting star flew through the sky, as Luigi sat by the fire in the middle of his new crater. He smiled... HIS wishes were always granted now. There were times when it was not like this, though...

* * *

Luigi sighed. He had made a fool out of himself, again. He was always in the shadow of his older brother. Sometimes he thought he was someone existing because there was a need for comic relief.

It had not always been like this, there were times when he was at least equal to his brother, but today...

Even Daisy seemed to laugh at him more often these days. He invented some kick-ass fighting style for tournaments, and everyone just said that it looked gay. It was effective, but maybe they were right and it was just some kind of stupid dance...

He sighed again. He didn't want to think about it that much, at least he could still help when there was a crusade against Bowser to free the princess. He was still helpful. "Yet", he mumbled, "I am never really needed!" He was sitting on his bed in his room. Comfortable, yes, but not nearly as big as Mario's room. A picture of his brother was hanging from the wall. He was posing, making a "V" for victory. Luigi still liked his brother, but while there were nearly fifty pictures of Mario, there were only twelve of him, including eight showing them both, in the castle.

Every aspect of his life felt like he was not the main character. Luigi wanted to accept that, but he could not. He did at least as much work as his brother, if not more. And somehow Mario managed to be more popular, to get more attention, to become a legend.

He stood up and left the room. He wanted to look for Daisy, he needed some cheering up.

* * *

As he found her, she seemed uneasy. He found her in the dining room, alone, and as he entered she seemed to get nervous all of a sudden. "Hello, dear", Luigi greeted her.

"Hello", she answered. As he saw the look on her face, he had to ask: "Is.. Is there something wrong?"

"Yes, Luigi" - her response made him feel very uneasy. The tension in this room was almost edible, which means, you could already feel it on your tongue.

"It is just that.. I don't think it will work out..." He knew it... He knew that she would say this, it was just his luck.

"Why? Why do you say that?"

"It's not because of you it's becau-."

"Oh yes, it is because of you, isn't it? I'm not good enough for you, that is what you want to say? And it is not because of me, but because of you, because it is your fault that you are TASTELESS!"

"...no reason to be mean, jus-"

"Just what? No reason? You are dumping me, you are just dumping me here! After I rescued you! You are the one who is mean here! You... You...", he breathed heavily, "I have to leave now." He walked out of the room without turning back.

* * *

Of course he didn't want to cry, and in fact, he managed not to. He thought that he would, but there were no tears. As he was sitting in his room, he just stared out of the window. His mind was sort of blank. He didn't even think about the situation, he just felt extremely empty. Not empty as in sad. Not empty as in lifeless. Empty as in to-be-filled.

He heard the door being opened and closed. "Luigi, I heard what happened." The voice of his brother seemed quite sincere. Of course, he was perfect, wasn't he? So he was even perfect in caring for his brother. "It's nothing Mario, really...", he said after a while, "I don't know, maybe we never really loved each other." Mario was sitting on Luigi's bed, "But of course you did, and it's not good for you, acting as if it was nothing." Luigi did not answer. "You should not seal your feelings inside yourself. If you are sad, you should be sad for a while!" Luigi still didn't answer. In fact, he didn't even listen to his brother. He was probably saying something intelligent, considerate and encouraging. Luigi just watched the birds in the sky, from his window, thinking about nothing at all.

"Luigi? Hey, Luigi? What do you think about?", suddenly the voice of Mario was piercing his mind. "Err, Mario, I...", he didn't know what to answer. He was thinking about nothing... "I don't want to talk about it." Mario walked towards him, and put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "If you want to talk about it, just come to me. I'll listen."

"Err, yes, thank you, Mario." - Great, now he had to visit Mario and talk about this matter, or he would come back, pestering him. Mario left the room and Luigi sighed again. NOW he was worried, as he had no clue what he should talk about. He went to bed early, sleeping peacefully until dawn.

As the sun rose, Luigi did not know that he had some luck here. He would not have to visit his brother - for his brother would be dead by the end of the day.

* * *

It was during breakfast. Everyone kept silent, most likely because of the breakup between him and Daisy, yet Daisy wasn't there, the mushroom underlings seldom spoke, and Mario and Peach seemed like they did not want to hurt his feelings. He himself thought that this matter was very childish, and everyone's reaction seemed to be so pathetic.

The silence was suddenly interrupted, as the door was opened, and Toad entered. He was gasping, "The...", he took a moment to catch his breath while everyone just stared at him. "The Star Road! It is under attack!"

Mario jumped up. "WHAT?" "By whom?" "Who would do something like this?" "Is it smithy again? But that is impossible" suddenly there were a thousand voices in the room.

"Quiet, please", Peach was taking control now, "Toad, tell us: Who is attacking the Star Road. And how?"

"It seems to be Bowser! And he managed to gain access by a new series of airships!"

Again, the room was filled with voices. Why should Bowser do something like this? He helped to restore the Star Road back then.

"I don't know why Bowser would do such a thing... But we have to stop him!", Peach said with determination. Somehow Luigi thought of this to be quite ironic. Hearing the determination in Peach's voice, he thought how she would do nothing and send him and Mario to do the job.

"Mario, Luigi, you have to face Bowser once more!", she said to them. Jackpot! Of course he was right, she'd never do something like that herself nowadays. Back then she helped to restore it, or so he was told. But today she seemed to be very sloppy. "Of course, Princess!", his brother answered. Then he turned to Luigi, "Come, this will help to get this whole Daisy-business off your mind.", he smiled. Luigi smiled back, but not because it would do THAT, but because this whole "Daisy-business" meant nothing to him.

* * *

They took down Bowser's airships with ease, managing to jump from one to the other, defeating all the Koopalings. Standard stuff, Luigi had some routine in it by now, and so had Mario. "There it is!", his brother shouted, as they approached the Star Road on Bowser's last airship. "Look, there! Bowser is doing something. Some kind of ritual! Kamek seems to be there as well."

They jumped, and landed just in front of Bowser, who was reading something incomprehensible from an ancient-looking book. He was glowing, probably because of some magikoopa magic. As the plumbers landed, he stopped and closed the book.

"It's -a over, Bowser! What do you want here, anyway?", Mario said. Maybe this is why he is more popular, Luigi thought, maybe because he managed to say the stereotypical sentences. "Not this time, Mario! Kamek! Hold them back, until I complete the ritual!"

Kamek's strange voice filled the air. "You... This time, you won't disturb our plans! I will crush you, Mario!" Luigi felt some anger, as he was overlooked again. He wished... He wished that he'd be better than Mario, just ONCE. "Don't worry, Luigi, we can handle this.", he heard Mario say. Yeah, they could handle this. Kamek would just use some of his pathetic tricks again. The magic of these Magikoopas never seemed to be any real threat.

A cascade of fireballs was flying towards them, their origin being Kamek's staff. Fancy, but nothing to stop them. Luigi jumped quickly, avoiding them, finally aiming for Kamek himself, who suddenly disappeard. "Teleportation!", he looked at Mario, "where is he?" Mario didn't seem to know, either. "Luigi, don't waste your time with him, I will try to defeat Kamek! You fight Bowser, I leave him to you this time!" Luigi smiled. He really still loved his brother, Mario was indeed perfect. He even realised what really bothered Luigi now. "Thank you, Mario", he answered, but Mario did not seem to hear him.

"No problem, I will have a chance to thank him after I defeat Bowser!" - with this Luigi started running towards their arch-nemesis. He readied a fire flower he had kept for a moment like this. Bowser saw this and stopped his incantations again, looking at Luigi with some horror in his eyes. "No! Fire flower is so cheap! Do you have no honour?" Luigi didn't care for the Koopa's excuses.

He beat him extremely quickly. Bowser was just too clumsy to avoid his fireballs, while Luigi could easily dodge the big, powerful, but slow fireballs of the dragon turtle. It had always been like this, and Bowser fell, from the Star Road, to an unknown fate. Of course he would survive, he was a tough turtle after all. But again, he was beaten. Luigi smiled. He was beaten by him, not Mario.

The very same Mario that did not beat Bowser this time, approached his brother. "Luigi, good work!", he smiled at him, "Kamek just rushed towards the ground, saying something about saving Bowser!" "Yeah, he will have to if he does not want him to leave quite some crater!" They laughed, and sat down for a moment.

"What do you think, why did he attack the Star Road?", Luigi asked, while they enjoyed their view. They could see all of the kingdoms from up here. "I don't know for sure, but... The Star Road transforms the wishes of people into stars... And when there is a shooting star, the wish becomes true." Luigi knew that... "Yes, that is how it works."

"Maybe he wanted some of his wishes granted. Or all of his wishes granted!", Mario said, "maybe we should read the book he had with him. It is still here, isn't it?" - "Yes, it is over there, why?" - "I just go get it, wait here, Luigi."

Luigi watched the panorama, focussing on the mushroom kingdom. He felt good, this day was really exciting, and just for once, he had surpassed Mario, defeating Bowser, and probably saving the world and people's wishes from grave danger.

He heard a sound like a tomato being smashed by a hammer, and turned around. What he saw made his eyes widen in terror and disbelief. Mario had been crushed by a shooting star, that happened to crash-land exactly on his head...

"Mariooooooooooooooooooooooooo!", Luigi screamed, running towards his brother, or what was left of him. The only things left of the plumber were one arm that was lying there, on the ground, while the rest of Mario was a pool of blood and mashed flesh and bones. "No... No...What...", Luigi picked up the arm. "What happened?" he looked at the shooting star. On it, in fiery letters, there was something written, he had trouble reading it, because a tear forced his way into his eye. As he managed to read it, he fell on his knees...

"I wish that I will be better than Mario, just ONCE!"

- Luigi


	2. Pleasant dreams

AN: I really don't like this ff, but unfortunately, it has to be written. It sickens me, but it is currently blocking any other ideas, so I have to continue it, and I have to finish it as well. Also, my chimps threatened that they would be on strike if it wasn't continued.

It should also be remarked that the amount of spelling mistakes and grammar errors in chapter one was just unacceptable, but I fear with my current state of mind it will continue. I won't apologize, I spanked my monkeys for their crime, and I will leave it at that.

AN2: I do not own anything but noobs.

* * *

Just as if the world it self had a need to cry, it was raining, as the coffin was put into the grave. Of course there was no body in it. It was just a symbol, as all that was left of Mario was a puddle of blood, and an arm. Both were still at the Star Road, as much as Luigi had wished for something of his brother to remember, he couldn't bring himself to take the arm with him.

What he had brought with him was the accursed book, which had caused all of this to happen. But even this book didn't help him at all, he had read it, or say – tried to read it. But it was filled with a strange mixture of numbers and letters, that seemed nonsensical to him. He was staring at the coffin, as Taodsworth, or whoever, held some speech. He did not listen. He had told them that it was Bowser who killed Mario, he dared not to tell them the truth. He felt responsible for his brother's death, and the whole burial put much pressure on his psyche.

* * *

He didn't pay much attention to anything happening during the ceremony. At one point Peach wanted to speak with him, but he did not listen. He was now sitting on his bed again, just as on that evening before they went to defeat Bowser again. In his hands was the book... What was written in it? If it was encoded in some way, how come a numb nut as Bowser could read it fluently? He opened it again. It still made no sense to him. It seemed to be some random pattern, while there were sometimes parts that just read "00000000000000000000000000000000000000000" or "ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff".

He heard a knock on his door. "Come in", he said. As the door opened, he saw someone he did not expect at all. He expected maybe Peach, Daisy, Toad or someone like this, wanting to cheer him up, or just talk. It was none of them. It was someone he had only heard of and never met so far – Geno. Of course, with the Star Road involved and all that, it was no surprise that he showed up as well. "You? What do YOU want here?", Luigi said with quite some confusion in his voice, "the Star Road is safe again, isn't it?" Geno closed the door behind him. "Luigi... We haven't met so far, but I can see you have heard of me already."

Of course he had heard of him. He had been told all about him, him being an incarnation of someone or something from the Star Road, or... Well, he didn't know ALL about him. "Don't worry, I will answer your questions, Luigi. Just let me ask one first: The book in your hands, is it the one Bowser had with him?" Luigi nodded. "Of course it is... But it doesn't make any sense! It is encoded or something like that!" Geno walked towards Luigi. Luigi had heard that he was some kind of living doll, but he thought that they meant that more metaphorical. "Can I please have the book for a moment?", he asked. Luigi wasn't so sure, he had only been told of Geno, and never met him. He did not know if he could trust him. "Don't worry, I just want to check something." Luigi nodded again, and handed over the book. Geno had a quick look, then he gave it back. "Yes, this is indeed the book Bowser used.", he sounded very concerned, "It is a book written by the ancient Gods, Luigi! Do you know what that means?"

Of course he did NOT know. What ancient Gods? This was just too much to bear, Mario dead, and now some babble about ancient Gods? "No, I don't know anything about Gods... I thought everything in this world revolved around stars a- " Geno interrupted him. "Yeah, this is just the youngest age of this world. But the ancient ages... I am not allowed to reveal much to you here. But you have to know: There is a pantheon of ancient Gods, those who created this world.", he smiled, "YOUR world. And they are fate." Luigi was sceptical. All this babble of Gods... "So, who are these Gods?", he asked. Geno just smiled again, which looked rather disturbing on the face of a doll, "I already told you, I am not here to reveal so much about them. Everything you have to know is, that they are called 'Those who leave luck to heaven' in the teachings of the ancient."

Great, THAT helped. Luigi grew tired of Geno's lectures of ancient lore. "And, if not to reveal something to me, why DID you come?", he asked.

"Well, to tell you something, to tell you how to get Mario back!", Geno answered.

Luigi's eyes widened. "What? How! Tell me! Tell me immediately, HOW?!" He was shaking Geno furiously now. If he was here for something like this, why didn't he say so earlier? "Calm down!", he shouted, pushing Luigi away from him. "The answer lies in this book."

"But I can't read it!" Geno sighed. "Would you please let me finish? I know that you are upset..."

"DAMN RIGHT I'M UPSET!" "There are ancient artefacts to translate the language in this book. One of them was in possession of the Koopa Kingdom-" "Then I am going there!" "-but it was destroyed as Bowser fell from the Star Road.", Geno continued ignoring Luigi, "This is why Bowser did not yet try to get this book back. He thinks the only way to read it has been destroyed. But there is another one. You find it in another Dimension, that I can sent you to.", he smiled again, "There, some questions concerning your fate will be answered as well. What do you say?"

Luigi didn't have to think about this at all. "There is nothing that keeps me here, when there is a chance to get Mario back.", he looked Geno into his puppet-eyes, "send me there! I don't care if it's dangerous or whatever! Just send me there!"

Geno nodded. "I thought you would say that." He raised his arm an mumbled something. There was a flash of light, and Luigi was blinded by it for a second, only to see... that nothing changed. "What? Didn't you send me there yet?", he asked, about to shake Geno again. "Patience, plumber", he answered. "You will arrive when you go to sleep, for this dimension is only reachable through your dreams. But do not worry, you will be able to take the artifact with you." He walked towards the door, "And – I will now have to leave you. Pleasant dreams!"

Luigi rushed into his bed, not paying any attention to Geno or any of his surroundings any more. Is there was a chance to revive Mario in his dreams, then he wanted to dream as fast as possible.


	3. Strange Worlds, Strange promises

AN: Yeah, it's weird. Knock yourself out if you want to. Characters appearing here might be "somewhat" (lol) OOC. Well this is true for all my FFs.

As Luigi woke up, he was eager to explore the world surrounding him. That was, until he realised how it looked like. He was standing on a metal surface, and surrounding him were flying orbs, connected to each other with something that looked like extremely viscous goo. This sight seemed to go on forever, and there was no visible light source, yet there was no darkness either.

"Surreal", Luigi wondered, "I just hope this isn't just some weird dream... I can't see how something here could help me translate this tome..."

He took one step forward, and his footstep echoed through the seemingly eternal space. This was strange, because his voice didn't echo at all. He immediately stopped, stunned by the impression of the sound. Then, in front of him, a shadow appeared, grew, and manifested.

It was a woman, barely wearing anything at all. She was only wearing a piece of cloth that looked more like barely visible strings over the usually censored parts of her anatomy. Her long, blonde hair was covering more of her body than her clothes did. To Luigi she seemed extremely desirable, and he was very tempted to either seduce her or even rape her at the spot. But as tempting as her appearance was, she was holding something in her hand that kept him away. Something that could be easily described as a "fucking huge sword". She was also covered in blood, which made Luigi think twice before he did anything. For a moment she just stared at him, with a bizarre grin. And he stared back. He was intimidated by her, allright... Finally the silence was broken.

"Was' up?", she said shouldering her sword, still smiling, "you look like all the other people... but you seem to drool less then them."

Luigi tried to answer, but all that came out of his mouth was something like "hadahadahadahada..."

"Ah, but you answer like the others!", she took one step towards him, "Who are you, handsome?"

Luigi finally managed to get a hold of his tongue... "I am Luigi, plumber and hero of the mushroom king..."

"OH A REAL HERO!", she suddenly exclaimed with joy, "Ah, I know... The mushroom kingdom? Yes, of course, I know this place" She giggled a little. "That means someone sent you here, isn't it like that, sugarpie!"

Luigi wanted to object to his new nickname, but before he could say another word, the stranger put her finger on his lips. "Ah ah ah! No talking! I have to get you somewhere more private... Just because Ego wanted you here doesn't mean I can't have my fun with you."

While Luigi was thrilled by the idea of spending some quality time, he suddenly remembered Mario. He remembered how his brother died. He remembered the moment when the shooting star crushed him. He remembered the bloody flesh. He remembered the violence, the gore, the...

As he thought about this, the strange, yet beautiful, lady in front of him seemed to change. Her eyes seemed to catch fire, her face darkened, yet her grin grew bigger. Luigi thought he could see her sword grow as well. No, he was pretty sure, it WAS growing, and as it was growing, suddenly blood appeared on the blade, dripping from it. It disturbed him. He was about to run away – the only reason he didn't was because he didn't know where he could hide from her.

"NO!", she said, "Don't stop thinking of the violence! I like it! You are a hero, right? Let's have some fun together!" She looked him into the eyes, it felt like she pierced right into his soul. "Let's kill someone, shall we, sugarpie. And after that, we can have even more fun!"

Luigi didn't know why, but suddenly he had the urge to murder, the urge to kill, and the urge to celebrate the slaughter with an orgy. It seemed like his reason just went out on vacation to the "I don't give a fuck"-Kingdom.

The stranger grabbed his hand, her voice was filled with passion.

"Come on, sugarpie! Don't make me wait!"

Her grip around his hand tightened. Luigi clenched his other hand to a fist. He could feel a slight shiver running down his spine. He wanted nothing more than follow her. She started running down the seemingly eternal metal plain, and he almost fell because he had a hard time keeping up with her dragging him. While she ran, she laughed. She laughed with such passion, it ignited a fire in Luigi as well. He joined her, and their laughter echoed through eternity again.

Her fingernails started to penetrate his glove, and it caused him pain. But the pain didn't hurt. Somehow he was able to enjoy this pain – he never knew he had an masochistic side. He had completely forgot about his mission, about Mario, about everything but the strange girl.

After some running he started to feel dizzy, the world around him seemed to evaporate into a thick mist. He couldn't see anything at all. He barely saw the hand of the beauty holding his own tight. At first he thought he'd lose consciousness, but instead, the mist lifted, and he found himself to be in a very disturbing environment. They were in an arena now, resembling the Colosseum, the crowd cheering. The gates to the arena were wide open, and an onslaught of weird, faceless, grey humanoids ran towards them. He realised that no one was holding his hand any more, and as he searched for the unknown girl, he saw her running towards the onslaught, screaming, with her sword lifted above her head. He had the urge to follow her into combat... Then, his consciousness did indeed fade away. He gave into an intoxication of violence. The next thing he clearly remembered was standing knee-deep in the guts of slain enemies, breathing heavily, with a blood-covered, incredibly beautiful face smiling at him. He smiled back of course, for he knew that now the orgy-part was about to begin. He took one step towards her...

"Hold on!", a voice suddenly silenced the ever-cheering crowd. The voice was incredibly sincere and powerful. "It seems to me that you will never learn!"

Luigi turned his head towards the source of the voice. An old man was standing in the middle of the arena. He didn't know how he got there... He was balding, dressed in a white robe, and his face was strict, symmetric and intimidated Luigi even more than the beauty's sword.

"Shut up old man!", the blonde shouted, "Fuck off and fall on other people's nerves, will ya? I want to play with this one, so fuck yourself!"

With these words, she started storming towards the old man, and Luigi imagined what a bloody mess she would leave behind when dealing with the helpless old man.

The "helpless old man" punched her in the face once, and she fell to the ground, dropping her sword.

"You will learn to behave!", he said, "You will learn to know your place!"

Luigi was stunned. The strong, beautiful lady seemed to degenerate. She was lying on the ground, crying. He shook his head in disbelief, as he saw her turning into a little girl, wearing an over-the-top cliché pink dress.

"BUT I DON'T WANNA!", she screamed, "I WANNA PLAY!! I WANNA PLAY!!"

"No, you played enough for today! Go to your room now!" Luigi thought the old man's voice was so dominant, if he ordered him to kill himself he would do so just to avoid being ordered again.

But she still seemed somewhat unimpressed. "Youaremeanyouaremeanyouaremeanyouaremeanyouaremean!!", she started to cry, "I hate you!"

Just when Luigi thought this situation could go on forever, he heard another voice, calm, and somewhat... normal.

"Enough, please, Id, Super, stop it, we have guests!" Luigi saw another man, popping out of nowhere. He was dressed in a toga – fitting the ambience – and he somewhat resembled a Roman emperor.

"I knooooow! But I want to plaaaaaay!", the girl screamed again.

"Don't listen to her, Ego, she had had her ways long enough now!", the old man immediately added.

"Yes, you are right Super, I will need a clear mind when dealing with our guest... But first, let's remove this silly panorama." He clapped his hands twice, and the mist was rising again. Luigi did not feel dizzy this time, and it didn't take long for a comfortable room to appear.

Luigi was already sitting in a chair – somehow – and in front of him was a couch. On it a very strange person sat. He didn't look like Luigi at all. He didn't look HUMAN to Luigi. He was somewhat humanoid, but he had a strange, small nose, unbelievably small eyes, and his whole face almost looked like that of a dog. He seemed twisted, bent out of proportion, compared to Luigi. The girl and the old man were gone.

"Well, hello, let's introduce myself first. My name is Ego.", the strange guy said.

Luigi looked at him. "Err.. I'm – a Luigi, and I..."

"Yeah, you want to resurrect your brother, Mario. I know, I know.", the strange humanoid grinned at him, "and you want the book translated! Guess what – I will do it for you. And I just want you to promise me something!"

Luigi still looked at the strange creature. He felt like someone looking like this was destined to betray him. But still... "What is it? What do I have to promise?"

"Oh, nothing too important.", the creature laughed a bit, "just promise me that you will really resurrect your brother, Mario, and I will translate the book for you."

Of course, Luigi didn't have to think about that before answering.


	4. Wantonness

"Of course I will resurrect him! That is why I am here!", Luigi looked at "Ego" surprised. Somehow this situation made him feel uncomfortable, why would he want him to promise something that he already wanted to do?

"Will you make an oath?", asked Ego, "One that binds you, one that will make you obey."

"Of course.. But how? I know of no magic capable to force someone to keep a promise...", Luigi didn't know much about all this magic stuff. He knew how to use some of the artefacts in the mushroom kingdom and heard some of the lore, but he was never truly interested in it.

"There is no magic in the mushroom kingdom to achieve this, yes...", Ego paused for a moment, "But there is the magic of us, the ancient Gods."

"You? Ancient Gods? What are you talking abou..."

"We, the ancient Gods. The ones that created your World, amongst many others. The Pantheon of the creators. The Pantheon of the ancient. You never heard of us, but they call us 'the ones that leave luck to heaven' "

Luigi didn't know what to say... "So you are Gods that live in this dimension, creating other worlds? You and Id and Super?"

"No, no, no, those, yes – even me – we are all fractions, part of this world.", Ego smiled at him, "In fact – this world, this dimension you are in now, is the God. I am just a part of him. The ancient Gods are so superior to you, that each of them is like a whole world to their creations. And this is all you are, a creation, Luigi."

Luigi was utterly confused. The last few days, nothing had made sense to him, and it was getting worse. He wanted Mario resurrected as soon as possible, and didn't want to hear anything about ancient Gods, ancient magic and especially not something about him being a "creation" of those Gods.

"Ah-well.. let's – a get this over with!", Luigi said, "how can I make an oath like this?"

"It's easy, it will happen while I translate the book for you. You will fall into a sleep, and when you wake up, the book will be accessible. To use it, you have to follow the instructions on the first page, after that you will obtain the power to resurrect Mario.", Ego suddenly looked very sincere, "It is of utmost importance that you agree willingly to all of this. Do you?"

What was there to ask? Ego had confused Luigi with this talk about ancient Gods, but he still wanted Mario back! "Of course! I agree! I will resurrect Mario!" And just to prove his sincerity to himself he repeated the last line again. "I WILL resurrect Mario!"

"Good, good!", Ego smiled, "Then, allow me to make the preparations now. You will lose consciousness and you will awaken in your bed, in the mushroom kingdom. The book will be translated, and the first part will be in a language you can read."

Ego stood up, clapping his hands, and Luigi's perception of this world faded.

* * *

When he woke up, he didn't feel any different, he was back in his bed as Ego had said. He immediately took the accursed book, opening it. The page he had opened wasn't full of numbers any more. But it was written entirely in a language he had never seen...

"Damn you, did you trick me?" Luigi mumbled as he turned the pages. Then he remembered what Ego had said. The first part! He opened the cover, and the first three pages were written in the language of the mushroom kingdom he was used to read.

_Hello Luigi!_

Wait... It was addressing him? DIRECTLY? That didn't make sense. NOTHING made sense. Luigi was frustrated, extremely frustrated. But he had to resurrect Mario...

_I am the book of the ancient! A catalyst of the magic of the ancient for you to use! To use me you have to undergo the ritual of the Star Road! To undergo the ritual of the Star Road, just stand on it, and press A, A, B, B, UP, UP, SELECT, DOWN, DOWN, Y, Y, X, X, R, L..._

OK... he had been screwed. What sense was THAT supposed to make? He skipped the "press whatever" part.

_If you don't use a standard controller... _WHAT was a controller? Some kind of dictator? _...you can use voice activation. This new feature will make you feel like a real wizard! _

Great... A wizard. First plumber, then hero, now wizard. Not to mention the time when he and Mario worked as demolition men for a short period of time. This made as much sense as that time when Bowser and the Koopalings opened up hotels. These "ancient Gods" were nuts.

But still... It was supposed to give him the power to resurrect his brother. His brother meant too much to him. Of course he had envied how everything seemed to revolve around him, but the way he died. Luigi felt guilty, and the feeling of guilt is a powerful emotion.

The next part of the book were incantations, he was supposed to say when on the Star Road. This was probably what Bowser was reading out... Did the book address Bowser directly as well? Luigi didn't try to make any more sense out of this.

_After the ritual you will have the powers of wishes at your disposal!_

Great! This didn't seem to be very hard! And "power of wishes" seemed like something that could actually bring back Mario. He closed the book... How was he going to get to the Star Road? Bowser's aircraft had been destroyed... He had to consult Peach or Daisy about this.

Just when he thought about going to Peach's room, she entered his, still wearing black like at the funeral. She still seemed depressed, but Luigi wasn't depressed any more. He was determined.

"Peach! I was about to see you! It is because of Mario!", Luigi said, "I think I found a way to bring him back to life!"

Peach stopped, looking at him confused. She had obviously come to Luigi to talk about and cope with Mario's death. Luigi suddenly talking about resurrection of Mario wasn't something she had expected. Nevertheless, it was something she thought to be very desireable.

"Really? Luigi, please, don't tell me you are joking.. No, you wouldn't, no one would make jokes. But how? How are we supposed to bring him back?"

"I can bring him back with the power Bowser wanted to use! I can bring him back using the Star Road! It makes wishes come true, you remember?", Luigi was somewhat enthusiastic now.

Peach smiled for a moment, but than her face darkened again. "I don't know... The Star Road isn't supposed to be exploited in this way. Why should we use the methods of Bowser – he was the one who killed Mario! I don't think this is a good idea, we all miss Mario, but who knows what will happen if you disturb the Star Road..."

"You are not serious, are you?" Luigi asked in disbelief.

"Of course I'm serious! This is no joking matter!"

Luigi couldn't believe his ears! What was this Princess talking about? Why shouldn't they use the Star Road to bring back Mario? He had to bring back Mario, he was the one responsible for his death! He had to bring him back! And this nonsensical... "Peach" wouldn't stop him!

"How can you say something like this! I HAVE to bring him back! How can you say it is better that Mario stays dead?"

"I never said that", Peach was about to cry and you could hear it in her voice. It was insulting and painful to her that Luigi assumed things like that. "But we don't even know what exactly Bowser was doing there. And messing with the Star Road..."

"SHUT UP!", Luigi was angry. He had the responsibility to bring Mario back! And he had a way to do so. He didn't care for objections like that, "if you want Mario to stay dead, so be it! I am going to the Star Road, I will find a way!"

With these words, he stormed out of the door, Peach remained in his room, crying.

* * *

Luigi could not turn to Daisy, she would probably say the same nonsense about "not to mess around with the Star Road" or something like that. She was back in Sarasaland, and Luigi didn't want to take a trip to her, just to hear the same stupidity again. He stormed out of the castle, thinking how he could access the Star Road...

He got an idea, and it was extremely simple! It didn't involve anything complicated at all! He really wasn't very interested in Magic, but he knew how to reach very high places. It only took him a few days to amass hundreds of P-wings. Using them all at once should bring him to the Star Road in no time at all! During these days, he managed to stay away from people like Peach pestering him. He had his goal set in his mind, and the guide to resurrect his brother, he accidentally killed.

His plan worked surprisingly well. He really managed to fly the seemingly eternal way up to the Star Road, it just took him about another day. While he was flying, accelerated by the magic power of hundreds of wings, he focused the star Road, his goal, and ignored his other surroundings. Others would have enjoyed the view, but Luigi wasn't in the mood.

As he landed on the Star-shaped thing again, he saw the remains of his brother. He had wanted to make some burial ground, or at least clean it up a bit, but he had not been able to do anything back then. He was powerless, paralysed by his own weakness, his psyche. This wouldn't happen again.

He opened the book, and took a deep breath of air. Then, he started reading out the strange incantation...

_We make our wishes, our wishes make us. We have our dreams, and our dreams have us. We live our lives and our lives live us. Star Road, let me be the catalyst to dreams, hopes and wishes, for I will make the dreams come true. Fill me with the power I need to fulfil my wishes. Make me the avatar of dreams!_

Luigi had trouble reading it out, because as he did, the words leaving his throat weren't the ones he actually read. Out of his mouth came gibberish he didn't even know what it could mean, spoken in some language he didn't understand.

After he had finished, for a moment, nothing happened. He already feared that nothing would happen after all, that he had indeed been tricked by this strange guy, in this strange dimension.

Then, everything started to change...

The Star Road itself began to evaporate into a glowing mist moving towards him, engulfing him. He felt it's warm embrace, and he felt it entering his body and mind. Luigi felt a strange sensation, as this happened: In front of his eyes he saw millions of pictures, while he heard millions of voices simultaneously. "I want to have a pony!", "I want to rule the world!", "I want her to love me!", "I wish for a new shiny shell polish!", "I wish for I want I want to have I would like to have I want I wish I always wanted I long for..." His mind wasn't made to handle millions of voices, it overwhelmed him. He suddenly started to feel pain. He started to feel... want. He desired. He wanted. He wished. He longed for.

The bright, yellow-glowing mist that once was the Star Road had been entirely absorbed by Luigi. He flowed in mid air. He still looked normal, there was just fire in his eyes. Literally speaking, his eyes were surrounded by a flickering fire, but it didn't burn anything. He breathed heavily for a few seconds.

He clenched his fists. There had to be some changes in this world! And as he spoke, another change in him became clear, as his voice sounded like a whole crowd speaking as one:

I

AM

WANTONNESS


End file.
